In the budget

planetsusie · 20-04-2009, 06:25

There are thoughts around introducing a 'scrapping policy' on older cars.
It obviously hasn't been clearly defined yet.
I'm absolutely gobsmacked we are being 'sold' this as a green policy
What are your thoughts?

Neil · 20-04-2009, 07:05

Its ok if you want to help foreign car manufacturers.
Maybe you should only get the subsidy on a new car manufactured in the UK by UK workers.

If they do it the new cars should have to be efficient models in the low CO2 bracket.

Personally I can not see how it is a green thing to do. Scrap a perfectly good old car which will use loads of energy up to recycle then build a new car that will use loads of energy up to make. I wonder how much CO2 is created scrapping a car and making a new one.

Reusing is better than recycling.

Why not give the same subsidy to anyone wanting to convert a car to LPG. That would be a much greener thing to do than scrap and make a new car.

Mick · 20-04-2009, 07:15

Quote:

Reusing is better than recycling.

Try that with a bog roll Neil

LYNX1 · 20-04-2009, 07:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by mick

Try that with a bog roll Neil

Potty mouth again mick

jaysay · 20-04-2009, 08:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by mick

Try that with a bog roll Neil

Best way is to use both sides mick

AccyLass · 20-04-2009, 08:49

Apparently... Less puts his on the radiators to "dry" out

So he says

Toilet paper... not car

entwisi · 20-04-2009, 09:49

Utter utter madness

The vast majority of the emissions produced in the e2e lifespan of a vehicle are in manufacture and recycling/decommissioning. As such the most environmentally friendly method of using cars should be to eek every single mile possible out of them and even then teh age old scrap yard process of people buying parts that still had life in them until the vehicle has been stripped of all things worthwhile adds even more value in the environmental scheme of things.

Then there is the 5K grant to buy electric vehicles, this takes madness to a new level. Firstly where does teh electric come from to recharge these cars, Gas and Coal fuelled Power Stations is where, you haven't reduced anything, only shifted it. Secondly there is great concern that our National grid is actually not up to teh job of recharging huge amounts of electric cars and we could end up with Power cuts as a result, Thirdly, the emissions produced in making an electric vehicle are hugely more than a petrol engined vehicle. To make the batteries for Toyotas Prius huge areas of Canadian forest are being decimated. The ore is processed and generates massive amounts of Acid Rain, the resultant metals are shipped to Europe to be processed into suitable for manufacturing in Japan to make a car that is then shipped all the way back round the world for people to buy. What makes it worse is the vast majority of these things I see doing my 30K a year are sat on Motorways at 70 mph when the electric aspect of them is totally shut down and the poor little petrol engine is now having to drag a tonne of battery and electric motor around that it needn't. It is probably the most UN environmentally friendly thing on teh planet right now. And all that comes before we get to decomissioning it. Currently there is no way to recycle the batteries in these things and even more worrying no real idea of how they will dispose of them longterm.

Green? My backside is more green than that.

It shows there is so little real understanding of Environmental issues that its scary.

Top it all with even if teh EU stopped producing ANY greenhouse gases today, China will fill the gap within 18 months. We are peeing in teh wind untill teh world as a whole understands and buys into any of this.

BUt even more concerning, is any of this actually responsible for changes in Climate? The world has for millions of years cycled between cold and hot.......

wadey · 20-04-2009, 10:03

The best way to save fossil fuels is to ban the hundreds of thousands of scientists who jet around the World day in, day out attending meetings to tell us to turn the video off at night.

jaysay · 20-04-2009, 10:31

Its like the TV Ad init "So our next car is going to be green is it Dad" "No love its Copacabana Blue"

entwisi · 20-04-2009, 10:31

The daft thing is I support getting some people into electric vehicles. I totally understand that to a lot of people cars are a means of getting from a-b. they don't care 2 hoots how they get there or what makes it tick. as such the more people using nuclear powered eco cars the better as it leaves lots of lovely petrol for people like me who enjoy the actual experience of driving a fast large engined car for pleasure.

Just stop trying to make it that you are being green by doing so.

planetsusie · 20-04-2009, 10:45

hmmm
Yes quite
and the other points being that
Research Proves that owners of older cars do less milage than a new car user anyways and therefor the average amount of co2 is less anyways
Also think of the impact of this on used car dealers. Yeah it will Boost the new car market (n thats really the reason innit?) tempoarily by about what? 20% (see how it went in germany)
Also... come on..they give £2000 to someone for their car toward a new one....er...where does that person get the rest of the money??? if they had that kind of money they would be in a spanker anyways...
Oh n the new car dealers will just bang it on the price anyways

entwisi · 20-04-2009, 11:02

They borrow said money from teh Banks and then can't afford it then we end up in a credit crunch.... Oh, sorry, thats ones already been done!

Its almost starting to sound like teh Goverment are just limping on to the next election in teh hope that they don't get back in and have to deal with all the crap that they are creating.......

planetsusie · 20-04-2009, 11:15

hahaha
Quite

Boeing Guy · 20-04-2009, 12:21

In the Sunday Times, yesterday, they showed the electric cars you can buy and which ones will be available for the Government Grants.
Of all the models on the market today, only one is allowed the grant,
the Tesla Roadster, a snip at £75,000.00.
That and the fact you cannot get the grant until 2011, very green........now where did I put my V8

planetsusie · 20-04-2009, 12:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boeing Guy

In the Sunday Times, yesterday, they showed the electric cars you can buy and which ones will be available for the Government Grants.
Of all the models on the market today, only one is allowed the grant,
the Tesla Roadster, a snip at £75,000.00.
That and the fact you cannot get the grant until 2011, very green........now where did I put my V8

How bliddy convenient eh?
Pah!